Hello. I first want to say I'm glad I've found an active board of people who may be able to help me.

I have 2 cats, Hikaru and Lost. We have had Hikaru since she was 5 weeks old, and she is around 7 years old. We have had Lost for about a year, and he is between 2-3 years old. First, I should say that Hikaru hated Lost for a long time, so we kept them separated and eased them into each others' company over about 6 months. They did not share a litter box during this time.

Once they got acclimated to each other, they shared a litter box for about 6 months without any problem. We had them sharing one of the large Budda Domes. We had to buy a different type of litter for a short time, and Hikaru peed on the stairs of the box during this time. This is a litter in the past she has used and been fine. But I thought, maybe she's gotten pickier. So we switched litter back, but she still peed on the stairs. She would go in to poop, though.

We ended up getting disposable boxes and putting them in our tiny bathroom. Hikaru claimed them as her own, and never had any issue with them. Having the litter box was just a temporary solution until I could get the Budda Dome super clean AND get a new litter box for her. We recently got the new litter box, but we had to put it next to the well-cleaned Budda Dome.

NOW, Hikaru will use the new box. And she'll go a day (sometimes 2) without any problem, then suddenly, she'll pee on the stairs of the Budda Dome. It's very frustrating, and she knows she isn't supposed to (when we come home, she'll act submissive - which is extremely rare for her), and seems to feel bad when she does it. When I go into the closet where we keep the boxes, she'll put her ears down and squint; something she does when she's in trouble.

I don't know what else to do. It's getting expensive to clean the stairs every day, and it worries me for if we ever have to go on a long trip. We live in a very small apartment and don't have much money, but we do the best we can.

I would recommend you get more litter boxes, and they need to be in different areas of the house, not all in one spot. It could be a couple issues going on. The box may be too small for her liking. Get a large box. I fnd the Bodda Domes to be quite small inside. Could be she doesnt feel comfortable inside the box because of the other cat. This is why the boxes need to be in separate areas. It is recommended to have one box MORE than you have cats. So ideally, you would have 3 boxes. If the other cat is guarding the box, this will stop that as well. If you dont get this resolved, she could start taking it further, and urinating completely outside the box. Cats can be very finicky about boxes, and this can change over their lifetime.

I suggest you either get rid of the Budda Dome or accept the fact that she's going to pee on the stairs now and then. The cat doesn't really know the difference between the stairs and the main body of the box. To her, it's all her litter box. She might even have her bum hanging over the side of the top part, and the pee is then running down onto the stairs. In any event, I would replace the Dome with a regular litter box, and I suspect you'll have less trouble.

[QUOTE=Graco2200;912994] I fnd the Bodda Domes to be quite small inside. Could be she doesnt feel comfortable inside the box because of the other cat. This is why the boxes need to be in separate areas. QUOTE]

Yep I'm not a fan of the Booda Dome either. Click on the pic to enlarge and you'll see why. Sorry to say, but you will need at least 2 boxes for those guys in two separate areas, and buy the biggest you can find.Attachment 6202

She might even have her bum hanging over the side of the top part, and the pee is then running down onto the stairs.

This is what was happening with one of my girls. We got her a giant litter box for christmas this year and she's been using that without problems since. She was just too big to fit well in our other ones. She's a tank.